Internet Lawyer: Consumer Advocate or Devil’s Advocate?
Some cannot understand how one can simultaneously represent some of the biggest Internet info product marketers while attacking others for unethical conduct. A public relations stunt? Loose cannon? What the heck is going on?
To understand the what, you’ll need to learn the why I’m about to share with you for the first time.
My grandparents and great-aunt instilled old-fashioned ethics in me from childhood. They grew up during the Great Depression and spent their working lives as blue collar employees. To them, “get-rich-quick” meant the stock market crash of 1929, massive unemployment, and doing without.
If I could sum up their views on how to live, it would be these words: “Do what is right.”
Have I always done the right thing? Of course not.
Like you, I’m human and have made mistakes (and hopefully learned enough not to repeat them).
But doing what is right is the goal post that I aim for each and every day.
Is there a conflict between representing “big gurus” and doing what is right? Not if the goal of those gurus is also to do the right thing.
Do these clients make mistakes? Of course. They’re human too.
And if there comes a time where a business decision is made to profit from knowingly doing wrong to customers, that’s where the attorney-client relationship quickly comes to an end.
Some claim that I’ve been too harsh on certain marketers who have engaged in fraudulent and deceptive business practices. But there is a difference. Those marketers who I’ve publicly criticized for such misconduct have not made a mistake. They’ve chosen a way of doing business that is designed to profit by taking advantage of others.
Exposing these Internet scams is done because it is the right thing both for consumers and honest online business owners who shouldn’t be tarnished by association with the so-called “guru” marketers.
This holiday season will be a tough one for me. My grandparents have passed away. In recent years, my great-aunt has been the sounding board that invariably answers “do the right thing.” Now terminally ill, I’ll be visiting with her for the last time this Thanksgiving.
I hope that in the coming years, I live up to her expectations to do what’s right. If that means offending some scam artists masquerading online as gurus, so be it.
Do old-fashioned ethics have a place in the way we do business with each other on the Internet? Absolutely.
That’s why a group of Internet marketers committed to doing the right thing has just formed the Internet Ethics Council. If you’re truly committed to treating your customers with courtesy and respect, you’ll want to join us. To learn more, click here.
Facebook Privacy: Privacy Lawsuit Accuses Facebook of Data Collection Misconduct
Some Facebook users have filed suit in a California state court claiming that Facebook violates state privacy laws. Since at least 2005, California has been on the cutting edge for protecting consumer data online. From an Internet law standpoint, state laws create a mass of confusion that really should be trumped by federal law. Why should a website owner based in New York, for example, be required to keep up to date on online privacy laws in 49 other states? That’s about as ridiculous as making the site owner collect state and local taxes wherever a purchaser happens to be located and remit it to the taxing authority.
Although ripe for federal preemption because of interstate commerce issues, be careful what you wish for. The power to legislate is the power to control those legislated. If you’re doing business in an Internet-friendly state like Texas, you may not be too happy with what Congress passes as an omnibus Internet privacy law…plus the regulations to go with it. Expect at a minimum a requirement that data collection occur only after affirmative opt-in to the collection process by site visitors, users, and customers. In other words, informed consent.
As for the particular Facebook suit, regardless of the outcome, expect user privacy protections to increase so that Facebook can continue to do business in other countries that are even more protective of privacy rights than the United States.
